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University Shooting: At Least One Killed at Virginia Tech

Aired April 16, 2007 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Police are investigating a shooting at West Ambler Johnston. That is a dormitory, a huge dorm that houses as many as 900 students. There is -- there is a -- we're getting some new information now.
As many as 17 people now are being treated in association with two shootings. First, the one I just described a moment ago at West Ambler Johnston, and then a second shooting, some time apart, it seems, at Norris Hall. A total of 17 people being treated. We also know that one person was killed in the shooting this morning on the campus of Virginia Tech University.

We have been following the coverage of our affiliate, WDBJ. But Heidi, we also have these amazing pictures from a student on campus.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Unbelievable, and a little bit frightening, too, because of how close he was. Just wasn't aware of the shooting that had taken place a little bit earlier in the day.

We want to go ahead and take a -- take a listen to this video one more time here.

Again, these shots coming in to us as an I-Report taken by Jamal Albarghouti -- he's a Virginia Tech student -- right outside Norris Hall...

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: ... which is the Department of Engineering, Science and Mechanics, the site of this second shooting of the morning today.

HARRIS: And interesting as you take a look at that map. There is quite a bit of distance between those two buildings. So the shooter in question here had to travel quite a distance between those two halls.

The other interesting note here, as we sort of wait, either a press conference or some kind of statement from police on the ground here is that we are still in a situation where students who are in many of these buildings -- once again, this a 2,600-acre campus -- and many of the students in these buildings, in these classrooms, have not been given the all-clear as police continue to scour the campus just to be absolutely sure that the -- that the suspect in custody is the one and only shooter here.

So, right now, it is still very much an active scene. Police, state police, campus police all over the grounds there, that map that you see right now, just being sure that there is -- that the one shooter that they believe is responsible is in fact in custody, and that there was no one else associated with this incident that is unfolding this morning.

COLLINS: Also just getting some information now coming to us once again from Virginia Tech. Apparently, faculty and staff on the Burress side of the drill field, if we can possibly put that map up again, that would be the south side, I think, closest to Norris Hall. You see Burress down there on the south side of the drill field -- are being released and asked to go home effective immediately.

Faculty and staff on the war memorial side -- I believe that would be closer to Ambler Johnston, the residence hall where the first shooting took place -- are asked to leave at 12:30. Apparently, another half an hour or so.

So, once again, we are getting word that apparently there will be a news conference any moment now, trying to give us a little bit more information about the latest in all of this.

We also have someone on the line we would like to speak with, Sharon Honaker. She's with the Carilion New River Medical Center. Want to get the latest on the situation with all of the people who are wounded in this.

Sharon, thanks for being with us.

We understand that apparently one person was killed and as many as 17 others are being treated. Can you give us your best information here on the latest situation?

SHARON HONAKER, CARILION NEW RIVER VALLEY MEDICAL CENTER: Yes. I understand that most of the patients have been transferred to Montgomery Regional Hospital, which is the hospital right there near Virginia Tech's campus.

We're at Carilion New River Valley Medical Center over in Christiansburg. We have received only four -- four people from the scene. One I understand is in critical condition and three are stable.

COLLINS: One critical, three stable. And that is of the four people that have come your way, a little bit farther away from campus, if I understand you correctly...

HONAKER: Correct.

COLLINS: ... than Montgomery regional would be.

Now, over at Montgomery Regional, can you give us an idea -- is there a trauma center there? What type of facility is that?

HONAKER: Both Montgomery Regional and Carilion River Valley are level-three top trauma centers.

COLLINS: OK. HONAKER: The level-one trauma center in the area is run at Memorial Hospital.

COLLINS: All right.

Any more information you can give us -- obviously we're not asking for names or anything like that -- about the patients? Are we talking about gunshot wounds here? Are we talking about -- we had heard quite a bit about students jumping out of windows to get themselves safe.

HONAKER: I have no other information about these patients.

COLLINS: OK.

So, once again, from Sharon Honaker, of the Carilion New River Medical Center, level three trauma center there, one critical patient, and three are stable. That would leave several more people...

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: ... 13 possibly, that have gone over to the other facility that Sharon mentioned, Montgomery Regional, to be treated there, because we are learning that 17 people are in the process of being treated for their injuries.

HARRIS: Yes.

And as we take a look at these -- Michael, if you would, let's see some of the video again of police responding on the ground there at Virginia Tech University. And as we do, the question is, what in fact were they responding to?

Well, we can play for you a bit of the sound and show you some of the pictures as they were captured by Jamal Albarghouti, a student at Virginia Tech, early this morning.

HARRIS: And there you have it, chilling pictures. The audio even more frightening as the story was unfolding this morning at Virginia Tech University.

Shaver Deverle is on the line with us. He is a freshman on the line with us at Virginia Tech University.

And Shaver, are you there?

SHAVER DEVERLE, VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT: Yes, I'm here.

HARRIS: OK. We lost you earlier. Glad that you could call us back.

If you would, kind of give us a bit of a reset of your morning when you realized that there was an episode on your campus and that you might possibly be in harm's way. DEVERLE: Well, actually, when I went to class this morning, I took the stairs and I saw two cops on the fourth floor with -- like taping over the door to keep everyone on the fourth floor.

HARRIS: Is this West A.J.?

DEVERLE: Yes, this is West A.J.

HARRIS: OK.

DEVERLE: They didn't really say what they were doing. I thought it was -- there was some Tide spilled on the floor in the stairs. And I thought they were making a big deal about it, because they were telling me to make sure I avoided it, that sort of stuff. But no real sign of, like, anything bad. And so I went to class.

I came back right around 10:00, and at that point, they had two cops in the side stairwell ID'ing everybody coming back in. We had to show him our student I.D., and he was writing down our I.D. number and our names, and we weren't allowed to go anywhere near the middle of the building. If you were on the fourth floor, you weren't allowed back in.

So, it was kind of interesting.

HARRIS: So, Shaver, is West A.J. your dorm?

DEVERLE: Yes.

HARRIS: It is. And about 7:50 or so, when we believe the first shooting took place, where exactly were you?

DEVERLE: Well, at 7:50, that would have been right when I was walking down the stairs to go to class.

HARRIS: OK. And what I'm getting at is that you didn't hear anything?

DEVERLE: I didn't hear anything. But a guy who was in my class who left a couple of minutes before me, he was telling me he saw somebody who was, like, very bloody and that sort of stuff being carried to the elevator. And I had another guy who said they basically pulled him off the elevator when it stopped on the fourth floor and told him he had to take the stairs the rest of the way down. And -- like they were loading someone else onto the elevator who was injured.

HARRIS: And did your friend hear any gunshots?

DEVERLE: He hadn't mentioned anything. He thought somebody had just gotten, like, beat up, like it had been some sort of a fight that happened.

HARRIS: OK. Were you ever instructed not to leave the building, to get back into your room? DEVERLE: We were after they sent out the e-mail. We had an e- mail saying, like, there was a gunman on campus. And then, you know, we were told not to leave.

HARRIS: What time did you get the e-mail -- did you receive it?

DEVERLE: I'm not sure exactly. But it was probably around like 9:00.

HARRIS: OK. So, when did you get back to your dorm? And describe the scene, walk us -- take us on the walk back to your dorm up to your room. Describe that scene.

DEVERLE: Well, OK.

So I walked through the door and I saw the cop, and they were checking my I.D. and that sort of stuff. And I saw the guy who was in class with me. He got out of class before me. I didn't know where he had gone, but he happened to go to -- back to the dorm as well.

So me and him were walking up the stairs, and, like -- basically, we were talking about trying to figure out what was going on, but he didn't want to say anything too loud because of the cops. And basically he was just saying someone was in a fight.

But we just came up, I woke up a couple of people. We were like, wow, this place is in like a state of panic. We don't really know what's going on, though. And we were talking to some of the RAs, and nobody really knew what was going on at first.

HARRIS: It's interesting that they would let you back into the building when we know now that a shooting had occurred at your building. Interesting to you?

DEVERLE: Yes, fairly. I don't really know all the details exactly.

HARRIS: Yes.

DEVERLE: But they did seem to be, you know, pretty cautious about who they were letting in. And then actually, when we got back to the room -- I forgot about this -- we were watching out window to try to figure out what was going on, and like the whole building had been surround by this point in time with cop cars.

And people just walking down the sidewalks, and the cops were yelling at them and, like, you know, "Get off the sidewalk! Get in the building!" Like, really cussing at them.

And so that was pretty interesting. We were kind of freaking out then, because before that we thought this was like the (INAUDIBLE) thing.

HARRIS: The what thing?

DEVERLE: When the escaped convict got out. HARRIS: Yes.

DEVERLE: They made a big deal of it, but it was pretty much localized to another point of campus.

HARRIS: When did you learn about the shooting at Norris Hall?

DEVERLE: I got that -- we were kind of talking on IM, and I guess I figured that one out. I was told maybe 9:30, 9:45-ish.

HARRIS: And what is your reaction to all of this?

DEVERLE: I really just don't know what to say. Like, this is -- the whole day, it's just been like, you know, you think it's going to be some small, little thing that's not a big deal, and you keep finding out more and more details, and it's like pretty scary that this is happening where I go to school.

HARRIS: OK. That's what I want to get to with you if I could, Shaver.

DEVERLE: OK.

HARRIS: The gravity of the situation, at some point you're in the middle of it and police are running around, and you're being instructed to go here, don't go here, whatever. At some point you begin to get the news of what has happened not only at your dorm, but also at Norris Hall, and now the reports that 17 people...

DEVERLE: Right.

HARRIS: ... 17 people are being treated for gunshots and other injuries, folks jumping out of dorm windows.

The gravity of it begins to settle in on you, and what are you thinking?

DEVERLE: I mean, I guess it's kind of going back to like the Columbine-type stuff, but like at a college. Like, I never thought that something like that would happen here.

I mean, we had the bomb threats, and that just seemed like typical -- like people trying to get out of exams or something. But this is like -- like I don't even know what to say, like in terms of the gravity of this.

HARRIS: You know, after the August incident, I'm curious as to what the campus did in terms of reassuring you, a student on campus, that everything was being done to provide for your safety and security.

DEVERLE: I can't really think of anything in particular that stands out. I mean, generally around here we felt that that was handled pretty well, because they thought they knew where he was and they went for him, and everybody else kind of went back to the dorms where it was safe. So, I don't know of any big particular things that stand out in terms of what they've changed.

HARRIS: Yes. How confident are you in the security of the campus now? It has to be shaken to some extent.

DEVERLE: Yes. It's kind of weird, because it's kind of hard to stop, you know, an individual person. But I don't know if it was someone who lived in the dorm, because we do have systems on the dorms who, if it's after 10:00, you can only get in if you have a key card.

HARRIS: Yes.

DEVERLE: So it seems kind of strange that someone would come up and, you know, just come in during the morning if they weren't already kind of in here or knew someone. But -- I mean, for something like this, I don't know how you can prepare.

HARRIS: Well, let me ask you, did you hear this? We've heard some conversation from our local affiliate there in the Roanoke area, WDBJ, of a weather alert system that was activated to sound a warning to you students on campus that there was something going on and that you needed to be made aware of it.

Did you hear anything?

DEVERLE: That would have gone off after I had already gotten back to my dorm. But there actually were some guys -- we went down to the bathroom because you could hear the system going off. And telling that, but I didn't actually hear when I was on the ground.

HARRIS: Now, you're back in your room. Have you been given sort of the all-clear? I mean, are you being told to stay in your room? Have the warnings changed to stay away from the windows? Can you go out of your building if you choose to?

DEVERLE: I'm not sure if we can go out. I haven't tried. But I'm pretty sure, no.

I mean, everything -- we haven't gotten any all-clear e-mails or anything like that. Like everything is still saying, you know, stay inside, stay away from windows, don't -- you know, don't go out.

HARRIS: Shaver, I have to -- I just have to bring you this latest information, and I have to tell you, you are a student on a campus where there has been a major event of violence today. The updated information that we're getting now, once again, one dead and now instead of 17 wounded or injured, the number now is 20.

DEVERLE: Wow.

HARRIS: Twenty of your fellow students, we believe -- certainly we could be talking about faculty as well -- injured in today's episode. Have you talked to your family?

DEVERLE: Yes. I called my mom pretty soon after just to say...

HARRIS: Shaver, let me jump in for just a second. I need to get us to coverage of this from WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We asked him several times to clarify, because I don't think anyone really believed -- could believe what he was saying. But 20 -- at least 20 fatalities. That is the ball park figure at this time.

He could not give us a figure on how many wounded. They are notifying next of kin right now.

The FBI is here and investigating alongside with state police. There are multiple crime scenes on the campus.

They have set up counseling centers right now at Ambler Johnston and the Cook Counseling Center on the campus to work with the community and the families. They say that this is a tragedy of monumental proportions.

And the campus is shocked and horrified according to President Charles Steger. He says he wants to extend his deepest and sincerest and most profound sympathies to the families of these victim. Many of them he said are students.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think we can overstate this, certainly monumental proportions is right.

I want to back up a little bit and see if you can elaborate at all, Rachel (ph), on what multiple crime scenes may mean. Does that more than two?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not clear on that yet. But they said it started at 7:15 this morning, is when they got the first 911 phone call from West Ambler Johnston Hall. That is a large dorm on the campus. And they were told there were multiple shooting victims.

While in the process of investigating, about two hours later the university received reports of a second shooting in Norris Hall. Police immediately responded. The shooter is in police custody and there are multiple fatalities.

The number of fatalities has not been confirmed. The victims have been transported to various hospitals in the immediate area, in the region, to receive emergency treatment. And again, we are told that they believe the shooter.

I have information on the shooter. They believe the shooter is deceased. They believe this was the act of one person.

They are still investigating, but they said in the press conference that they believe the shooter is deceased and was found in Norris Hall. We asked if the shooter had been -- had shot himself or had been -- had a confrontation with police. And they say that is still under investigation. And they have not released that information.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, you're saying a lone gunman who is now dead? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is what we are told. The gunman is dead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Rachel (ph), you mentioned that when the police said at least 20 fatalities, there was an audible gasp in the room, and I know that when Keith (ph) and I got that word, the same reaction from us. At least 20 fatalities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had to ask the question twice, Jean (ph). I wanted to make sure I had the information right.

I could not -- all of us in the room couldn't believe it. Many media were in there, but also professors and students, people who heard about this press conference, started piling in, and there was an audible gasp. And the looks on the faces when I entered the room of Larry Hinker (ph), the media spokesman -- the mayor of Blacksburg is here, Ron Rodam, the town manager of Blacksburg, Marc Verniel -- the amount of sadness and the loss in their eyes was very apparent when I walked in the front door.

They looked at me, they looked down on the ground, and then we got the news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rachel (ph), as far as you can tell at this point, is there a conflict in the facts that we are reporting that there was a gunman in custody and now we are told a gunman is -- was found dead?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I was reading from the press release they handed me when I got to that point, and that's when I realized at the press conference, they did say that the shooter is dead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But there is not another individual who might be responsible in some way for these shootings who is alive and in custody?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I asked them that question and they said, "We believe it was the work of one person." They are still investigating, but they believe the shooter who was responsible for this is dead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard students who were in a classroom next door telling us they heard, you know, five, 10, 20, one student even said 30 gunshots. I think we all said, 30, that might sound like an awful lot of gunshots. "Are you sure that's how many you heard?"

Now we're hearing at least 20 people are dead, more are injured. And so I can't even begin to imagine the enormity of what has gone at Virginia Tech's campus and the gunman police are saying is dead. They don't know if he killed himself or was somehow shot in some kind of a confrontation, but the gunman -- OK, let's go...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We understand that we can go a videotape recording of the tech conference this morning where it was announced that 20 -- at least 20 people have been shot and killed on the Virginia Tech campus. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... are being handed out to you now. Please be advised, take notes, because the statement is changing on the fly. We'll have further information.

The chief of the Virginia Tech Police Department, Wendel Pleacham (ph), will be available, along with Dr. Steger, and chief of the Blacksburg Police Department, Kim Crannis, immediately afterwards.

Dr. Steger.

DR. CHARLES STEGER, PRESIDENT, VIRGINIA TECH: Well, today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportion. There were two shootings which occurred on campus. In each case there are fatalities.

The university is shocked and indeed horrified that what this would befall us. And I want to extend by deepest and most sincere and profound sympathies to the families of these victims, which include our students.

We are currently in the process of notifying next of kin. The Virginia Tech Police are being assisted by numerous other jurisdictions, including Montgomery County. Crime scenes are being investigated by the university police, the FBI and the state police. We continue to work to identify the victims that have been impacted by this tragedy.

I cannot begin to convey my own personal sense of loss over this senseless and incomprehensible, heinous act. The university will immediately set up counseling centers.

So far, centers have been identified in Ambler Johnston and the Cook Counseling Center to work with our campus community and their families. Now, here are some of the facts as we know them.

At about 7:15 this morning, a 911 call came to the university police department concerning an event in West Ambler Johnston Hall. There were multiple shooting victims.

While in the process of investigating, about two hours later the university received reports of a shooting in Norris Hall. The police immediately responded. The shooter in Norris Hall is deceased.

There are multiple fatalities. The number of fatalities has not been confirmed. Victims have been transported to various hospitals in the immediate area, in the region, to receive emergency treatment. And we will proceed to contact the next of kin as the victims' identities are available.

All class are canceled and the university is closed for the remainder of the day. The university will open tomorrow at 8:00 a.m., but classes will be canceled on Tuesday. The police are currently staging the release of people from campus buildings. Families wishing to reunite with their students are suggested to meet at the Inn at Virginia Tech, the building we're in today. We're making plans for a convocation tomorrow at noon in Cassell Coliseum, for the university to come together to begin the healing process with this terrible tragedy.

That ends my prepared comments. We would be happy to respond to any specific questions that you might have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I would ask -- the chief to come forward.

QUESTION: Can you tell us if the shooter was a student and if the -- how many victims -- fatal victims there are, and (INAUDIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not know if the shooter was a student or no. The case is under investigation. As far as the victims, some were students, yes.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's still early in the investigation. Yes, we have not determined yet who all the victims are, as far as whether they're connected to students or not.

QUESTION: And how many wounded?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have the answer for the wounded yet.

QUESTION: Do you have a ball park figure?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a ball park figure on fatalities. It's at least 20 fatalities.

QUESTION: We heard that someone just walked into a classroom and opened fire. Is that true?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of the victims were shot in a classroom.

QUESTION: A gunman walked into a classroom and (INAUDIBLE)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of the victims were shot in a classroom.

QUESTION: Do you believe it was gunman and that gunman is deceased?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this time we believe it was only one gunman, yes.

QUESTION: And where is that gunman?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is deceased.

QUESTION: And there's another in custody, you said?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. QUESTION: No?

QUESTION: Did the gunman shoot himself or was he...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're still determining the facts of that.

QUESTION: Was there any kind of shoot-out with the law enforcement officers?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, it's still early in the investigation, and we're still determining the facts of how he died.

QUESTION: The sequence of events was there was a shooting at the residence hall, and then two hours later there was a shooting at Norris Hall?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct.

QUESTION: So how many of the 20 -- roughly 20 fatal victims were at the residence and how many were at Norris?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea.

QUESTION: So you had a ballpark figure on the fatalities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, you're asking me fatalities at the residence hall? I'm sorry, I misunderstood your question.

QUESTION: How many people killed at the Ambler Johnston and how many killed at Norris?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At West Ambler Johnston, we have one confirmed fatality.

QUESTION: OK. And then -- so the rest of them were at Norris -- and that was all in one classroom, or multiple classrooms?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's multiple locations inside the building.

QUESTION: All in one building.

STEGER: We should note that we're not -- we have no evidence that these two are related.

QUESTION: Is it the assumption though that they are related?

STEGER: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven't made any assumptions. It's still early in the investigation. That is one question we will be trying to determine during the course of the investigation.

QUESTION: Do you know what kind of weapon was used?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I cannot release that at this time.

QUESTION: A handgun, though, or a rifle or...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, I cannot release that at this time.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not know.

QUESTION: D you believe the situation is under control for students right now?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's hard to imagine, Jean (ph), a situation where they have to have so many fatalities, they have to make an estimate. More than 20 people killed on the Virginia Tech campus this morning, presumably by a lone gunman. But in two separate incidents.

And President Charles Steger pointing out that we don't know at this point that the two were related, but they seem to think there was a lone gunman who, while we had been earlier been told was in custody, is now reported dead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I have some new information about injuries. We know that at least 20 people are killed. We are now being told by Carilion's spokesperson that four patients are at the New River Valley Medical Center, three of those are in stable condition and one is in critical condition. All with gunshot wounds, and then three additional -- three additional patients have been brought to Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

News 7's Rachel DePompa though we are told has some additional information -- Rachel.

RACHEL DEPOMPA, NEWS 7: Well, Jean (ph), we are now hearing 22 dead, including the gunman. That word just came out. That is including the one person over at Ambler Johnston, at least -- at least 20 -- that's still a ballpark figure -- over at Norris Hall, which is an engineering building, classrooms in that area.

But we are hearing 22 dead, including the gunman at this time. And that press conference you guys just saw out there, they want to let people know that they are notifying next of kin.

They're going to release information as it becomes available from here in this spot, the Holtzman Conference Center on the Virginia Tech campus. But things are still coming in.

But they do say, and I want to reiterate -- they the campus is secure right now. They do believe the campus is secure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rachel, can you go over those numbers one more time? How many do they think were shot at Ambler Johnston and then how many at Norris? I'm not sure I -- and I don't know if you have that information exactly either, because I had heard the one gentleman say multiple shootings at Ambler Johnston -- or West Ambler Johnston -- and then multiple at Norris. DEPOMPA: Yes. At least one person confirmed dead at Ambler Johnston, but multiple people were shot at Ambler Johnston Hall. And then they're saying at least 20 are dead at Norris Hall, which is a classroom area.

We have heard several reports of when that shooting happened, which was about two hours after the original one, at around 7:15. There were reports of students jumping out of windows -- even fourth floor windows to get out of that building. And there are students that have been grouped out of in many halls in the areas and basements. And they are slowly letting those students out right now.

So...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, Rachel.

DEPOMPA: I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the officials said that they were staging release from campus buildings, apparently a building at a time. And yet you're telling us that they believe the campus is secure. In other words, there's no one -- there's no one at large that they are in search of?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any other information on the gunman, Rachel, who this -- we know we heard them refer to the gunman as a man. Any other information on this person?

DEPOMPA: Not right now. They are not -- we asked several questions about that, why this would happen, what this person was doing, if this was some kind of fight or if this was related -- you might recall last week there were two bomb threats at Virginia Tech over the last two weeks or so. So, you know, they're saying that they don't know if this is related at all.

They are not releasing information about this gunman. But I can tell you that they do believe that the gunman was responsible -- or indications are right now for both shootings, and they do believe the gunman is dead at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One can imagine, Rachel, that what the situation at Montgomery Regional Hospital is, they are continuing to receive casualties from this incident at Virginia Tech. And some of these people may be gravely wound, some of them will be treated for injuries and we would hope released. But the hard part is sorting out the number who have expired and maybe may have been fatally injured but arrived there in some ...

COLLINS: We have been listening in to the incredible information coming to us now from our affiliate in the situation at Virginia Tech University.

The numbers have changed dramatically. We are now learning, according to the Associated Press, at least 20 fatalities, in fact I have an update on that. Twenty-two people dead including the shooter. And 21 more people injured. Last we spoke before going to our affiliate coverage here, we were aware of one fatality. We are now aware of at least 22 fatalities including the gunman who we understand has been found dead inside of Norris Hall.

The amazing thing is from what we heard in that brief press conference there along with the chief of police at Virginia Tech that apparently at 7:15 this morning, the first shooting took place, the 911 call came over at the residence hall we've been telling you about, West Ambler Johnston. Two hours later, more shootings reported at 9:15 or so at Norris Hall. That is where we believe at least 18 more people were killed, including the gunman.

HARRIS: That is the reporting, the shooter died at Norris Hall. Some of the victims were students. It is not known if the shooter was a student at Virginia Tech. Some of the victims were shot in a classroom. At this point, police believe the gunman acted alone. But it was shocking, just absolutely shocking to hear the story change from what we had been sharing with you throughout the morning here in THE NEWSROOM, initial reporting was that one person was shot and killed. Another person wounded.

That at West A.J. Hall, the dorm, and that there was another incident at Norris Hall. Initial reporting was that nine people had been wounded. And that had been the story, Heidi, through most of the morning. And in just the last few minutes, in the last 10 minutes or so revealed that the shooting we had been describing turned out to be far worse.

COLLINS: You know, it's unbelievable because the number of journalists that had gathered for that press conference that was held very briefly there by the chief of Virginia Tech police and also the president of Virginia Tech itself, I heard them ask three or four times, did we hear you correctly, did we hear you correctly. Twenty fatalities. At least 20 fatalities at that point.

And we have now since learned, according to the Associated Press, at least 22 dead, including the shooter, 21 more injured. And we heard Dr. Charles Steger (ph), the Virginia Tech president say this is a tragedy of monumental proportions, we are shocked and horrified. And of course they are going through that very grim procedure of notifying the next of kin right now.

HARRIS: There is still so much to sort out here. Let's keep in mind, we have heard descriptions of the lone shooter. We have heard descriptions from students of the succession of gunshots. We have asked the question whether it sounded like gunfire from an automatic weapon and the response to that was no.

We understand as you look at these pictures right here, there was an enormous police response to this episode on the campus. So there is still much to be sorted out, when you hear this figure of at least 20 fatalities all kinds of questions come to mind. There were police obviously engaged in trying to bring this situation to an end. We don't know if the shooter was responsible for all of the shots fired, not trying to draw any of the conclusions here, but it will all be a part of the investigation.

These are all questions that investigators will have as they try to ascertain what happened here, how this situation clearly escalated from one shooting to a separate incident at another hall where it sounds as though all hell broke loose.

COLLINS: There's no question about it. And we've been giving you those reports early on about students jumping out of windows, trying to get safe, and trying to get away from what I'm sure -- you just can't imagine what they were seeing, what they were hearing. We do know this, of course, campus is closed but also it was said in that press conference that campus is secure at this point.

So that would tell you without any sort of speculation that at least authorities there feel confident that the person they found was the gunman because that campus, they are calling it secure, no classes tomorrow, of course campus is still closed today. It will open tomorrow but there will not be classes held.

HARRIS: That's an interesting point because perhaps a lot of students are learning that the campus is secure from us, we know that a number of students are watching CNN right now as we welcome our international viewers who would normally be watching YOUR WORLD TODAY, we welcome you to this developing story out of the CNN NEWSROOM. Many of the students we have talked to this morning have still been in their rooms, still in their classrooms, some sitting on the floor as the campus has been locked down.

COLLINS: For well over two hours.

HARRIS: For well over two hours.

And they had not received any indication that the campus was secure. Many were looking out of windows an still seeing police with guns drawn on the campus very near their building so they might be receiving the news the campus is secure from us this morning. That is the news that came out of the press conference just a short time ago. Heidi, do you want to talk with Jonathan?

COLLINS: Yes, I'm not sure. Do we have Jonathan on the line, he is another Virginia Tech student who is apparently an engineering student. So Jonathan, is it correct for me to assume then, that you were in Norris Hall at the time because that is the Department of Engineering?

JONATHAN, VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT (on phone): No. I was not in Norris. I was in Randolph, it's the building directly behind Norris. From the map you are looking at it's the upper left of Norris Hall there.

COLLINS: Can you tell us what you saw or what happened by way of your experience with this unbelievable morning?

JONATHAN: I was actually prepared to head to Norris. I had my next class there. And as I was starting to leave the computer lab in Randolph, one of my friends came back in and said that people from Norris are coming -- running in, our advisor was telling us to go back into our classroom or any rooms, close the windows and lock the doors.

COLLINS: So you were on your way over to Norris and this is where you normally have your classes obviously. What is your reaction to this unbelievable news that first they had thought it was one person dead and not to minimize the loss of even just one life but now my goodness, we're talking about 21 people, 22, including this shooter, whoever he may be.

JONATHAN: Yeah. I was told to leave campus and heard one -- I came back here and I heard 20. I'm shocked. I don't know how to deal with this at all.

COLLINS: I can only imagine. Obviously passing along to you that I know that there have been some counseling centers set up immediately on campus. If that is something that you and many people there are in need of, it would be available to you. We have heard that in the press conference. So that is certainly there. We so appreciate your time here. What is going on now? Are you off campus, you said?

JONATHAN: Yes. I live off campus. They had us leave right around 12:00, they told us that anybody on the academic side of the campus should go home. And I don't know what all they did with the people that live on campus or anything, but I know I went back to my apartment so ...

COLLINS: Right. Well, Jonathan, we are very happy to have you and have you safe above all else being you are someone who frequents that building where all of this took place.

JONATHAN: Thank you.

COLLINS: Most of it anyway, so thank you again, Jonathan Sluss (ph), he is a Virginia Tech engineering student, in fact, so we appreciate your story, Jonathan.

HARRIS: If I can just get a message to our control room, I just received an e-mail we have got some sound available. While I reset this, maybe we can work on getting the sound from the Virginia Tech President Charles Steger. But if you're just joining us, it was just revealed to us in the last half hour or so, that the shootings we have been describing to you this morning here in THE NEWSROOM has resulted in the death of at least 20 people, you see the updated number according to the Associated Press there at the bottom of your screen.

It began to unfold at 7:15 a.m. this morning on the campus of Virginia Tech this morning. That is in Blacksburg, Virginia, not far from Roanoke with a shooting at West Ambler Johnston Hall. There were several shooting victims there. One person was killed in that dorm. Another person was injured.

There was a second shooting at a second location two hours later. That being Norris Hall. And at Norris Hall, there were multiple victims.

And it sounds as though as we begin to put the piece together here, it is here that things turned deadly in an amazing way. The shooter, we understand, died at Norris Hall. Some of the victims were students. It's not known whether the shooter was a student at Virginia Tech. Some of the victims were shout in a classroom.

Let's listen now to the president of Virginia Tech University. This Charles Steger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES STEGER, VIRGINIA TECH PRESIDENT: Today the university was struck with a tragedy that we consider of monumental proportions. There were shootings which occurred on campus. In each case, there are fatalities. The university is shocked and indeed horrified that what this would befall us. I want to extend my deepest and most sincere and profound sympathies to the families of these victims which include our students.

At about 7:15 this morning, a 911 came to the university police department concerning an event in West Ambler Johnston Hall. There were multiple shooting victims. While in the process of investigating, about two hours later, the university received reports of a shooting in Norris Hall.

The police immediately responded. The shooter in Norris Hall is deceased. There are multiple fatalities. The number of fatalities has not been confirmed, victims have been transported to various hospitals in the immediate area in the region to receive emergency treatment. We will proceed to contact the next of kin as the victims' identities are available.

CHIEF WENDELL FINCHUM, VIRGINIA TECH POLICE: We have a ballpark figure on fatalities. It's at least 20 fatalities.

QUESTION: We heard had a that someone walked into a classroom and started firing. Is that true?

FINCHUM: Some of the victims were shot in the classroom.

QUESTION: The gunman walked into a classroom and began firing on students in there.

FINCHUM: Some of the victims were shot in the classroom.

QUESTION: Was it one gunman and that gunman is deceased.

FINCHUM: At this time we believe it was only one gunman, yes.

QUESTION: And where is that gunman?

FINCHUM: He is deceased.

QUESTION: Is there another in custody?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Virginia Tech police chief there Wendell ... I missed his last name.

HARRIS: Finchum.

COLLINS: Finchum. It was an incredible press conference simply because just as we were getting word of these number, this is when we actually heard it coming from his mouth that it was not just one fatality, it indeed was 21 and 22 including the shooter. Not a lot of information on how the shooter was killed on all of this but we do know that the majority of the fatalities took place in that second location, you see it toward the top of your screen, Norris Hall, two hours after the 911 phone call and the apparent first incident that happened at Ambler Johnston, one of the largest residence halls on the campus of Virginia Tech.

There is so much to be filled in in those two hours, who knows what went on, I'm sure all of that is being investigate and looked into at this very moment.

HARRIS: And I know you want to get this amazing I-Report, I'm struck by the stark description that you were left with by the chief in answering the question of, is true that a shooter walked into a classroom? The chief said yes. So you are left with this stark image of the shooter walking into a classroom.

COLLINS: Columbine.

HARRIS: And opening fire.

COLLINS: Exactly what we saw.

HARRIS: Yes. And so you can't help but that visual, we will certainly have it fleshed out in greater detail to be sure, but that is clearly the stark image that you are left with from that description of the events there at Norris Hall.

COLLINS: Yeah, and also him saying we have a ballpark number for fatalities. Which again, you know, we believe we have narrowed that down but this is still developing. So at least according to the Associated Press right now, 21 people dead and another including the shooter to make it 22, 21 injured. It really does remind me of columbine. I was in Colorado, covered that story and it just seemed to get worse and worse as the situation ended up defusing in this horrendous count came out of the people who were killed.

We are hearing, almost immediately this being compared to some events in history. One of the worst shootings of all time. So we are continuing to follow this for you. I want to go ahead and get to the coverage that we brought you earlier from a student who was able to get on his cell phone and take these images as an I-Report for us here at CNN, we want to go ahead and show that to us and let us listen to what happened.

I-Report coming in from Jamal Albarghouti, he is a Virginia Tech student, what is incredible about this when we first showed it to you, we had no idea of the numbers that were going to come out just a few minutes after the airing of this video. At this point, when we showed it to you first, we were only aware of one fatality. Now we are aware of 22 including the shooter according to Associated Press. This video taking place and shots being fired outside, actually you can't really tell, but we hear the shots being fired. That is Norris Hall you're looking at and we do know that is where the majority of fatalities were found. So it is that much more eerie and disturbing. Now watching that as if it wasn't to begin with.

HARRIS: Well, talk about eerie and disturb, as we were describing events to you this morning in THE NEWSROOM we were just dealing with eye witness accounts and other students that were in the vicinity and it was in abstract. Then you get this I-Report and if we could maybe we can queue it up again, this is video that you're going to see a lot of as this story unfolds and we get more information.

But this is the site, this the location where we had most of the fatalities. Norris Hall, we're going rack this up again for you and let's listen again. No abstractions here, this is what was happening.

That's, as you take a look at these pictures, at this point, the authorities don't know what they're dole dealing with, a lone gunman, a multiple gunman, they have no idea what they're dealing with. And think about the students inside that hall. Certainly the ones who were being confronted by this gunman but also the other students.

This is an engineering hall. What was it like for those students? We have received some calls from some of the students who were in the area but obviously this was an unbelievable drama that was unfolding right there with police not absolutely aware of what they were dealing with in all of its complexity.

COLLINS: And of course we like to hope if they were talking to us, there were other people on the line with 911 and giving all the information that they had, everything they were hearing around them, everything they were seeing outside of the windows so the police could do the best job they could possibly do.

All of that, still so many questions obviously as this has just happened hours ago on the campus of Virginia Tech. You know, they're already comparing it to many other things, of course, as we mentioned, Columbine comes to mind. Near Denver, Colorado.

But also we are learning apparently one of the worst shootings on the university campus since 1966. And who could forget Charles Whitman, the top of the tower at the University of Texas campus, Austin, Texas, opened fire, 27 stories below he killed 15 people including his own mother and wife the night before, but on campus 15 people. Boy, I haven't heard a comparison to that event in 1966 in a very, very long time.

HARRIS: And as we take a look at the scene here, one again it took a long time for the authorities on the ground to get control of the situation. As you see them mobilizing here, this is from a couple of hours ago, of course, now the first reports, the first 911 call at 7:15 a.m. This is a 2,600 acre campus, Virginia Tech. Not Virginia Tech University as I may have referred to earlier, I apologize. It is Virginia Tech. It took authorities a long time to secure that campus.

And the kids on the campus were told, to stay in their rooms, to stay away from windows, just to stay locked down where they were as they try and control the situation. And it took a number of hours, there was a period of time there when an area was secured, police informed some teachers in the area, some professors that they were clear to go home, but it was clearly a methodical approach to clearing areas of that campus.

COLLINS: Yes. The best we can tell from that map we were showing you, they were clearing the south side, there's that Drillfield right in the middle of the two buildings where the residence hall is to the north and Norris Hall, the engineering department building to the south and they were clearing the south portion first. At least that's what our understanding was of some of the reports coming down.

I also want to make sure we show you this. We have another I- Report that's come in, just video but this comes to us from Dennis Hong, an I-reporter here for CNN but let's go ahead and take a look at this.

Yeah, unfortunately, not exactly positive of you know the direction or the angle this was shot from and what building we're looking at. But you can see a flurry of activity now. I'm not sure if that's another police officer. It's very tough to see.

HARRIS: But, Heidi, as we look at these pictures of those early moments when police were trying to cordon off the entire university, the entire Virginia Tech campus, your thoughts now turn to the parents of all of these students now with the gravity of the situation clear to everyone and still as we keep in mind the investigation continues and the campus is going about the grim job of informing the parents of the deceased.

Your thoughts turn to the parents. They send their young people to college to get an education. Virginia Tech, storied, facility there. Virginia Tech. In Blacksburg. And now comes this news today that there has been this horrible set of events on this campus with at least 20 people killed. And we know that at one point the gunman walked into a classroom and opened fire.

How do you begin to tell that story to the parents of these students?

COLLINS: And you know what? It's all that much more unbelievable because of the year that this university and these students and faculty have had because of the other incident that took place, not that long ago, happened in August, Tony, I know you guys were covering this here before I had to chance to move down here.

But a police officer and security guard also killed on the campus of Virginia Tech. We heard one of the students we had on the line a little bit earlier talking about what incredibly tough year this has been.

HARRIS: Yeah. Bomb threats, as you mentioned, the episode in August. Boy I remember that one pretty vividly. I was just covering breaking news at that time. And that's just sent shock waves through the campus.

We were able again to get a number of students on our air to describe those events. But I just, my heart goes out to these parents and to anyone with a young child there on that university and what it's going to be like over the next days, weeks and months and the job that is ahead for the officials here at this campus as they try to reassure these students and the parents of these students that they are doing everything possible to secure their young people.

COLLINS: Let's go ahead and throw it now, Tony, to our affiliate coverage here, WDBJ and listen to a reporter talking about some of the casualties and some of the treatment people are receiving at at least two different facilities we are wear of in the area of Virginia Tech. Let's listen in.

ALEX LAWSON, AFFILIATE CORRESPONDENT: We don't have a lot of specific information on the condition of those students but they were brought in to Louis Gale also had gunshot wounds or other injuries. The two students taken to Louis Gale also had gunshots injuries but are listed in stable condition. She also mentioned that all the hospitals, Pulaski, Montgomery and Louis Gale in Salem, have implemented their disaster preparedness teams to deal with the influx of patients.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alex, I'm not sure this may fit in what you know or be supplemental to it, but we are told that because of the high wind, they are unable to evacuate people by helicopter, which would make sense, and I suppose some of these folks coming in from the Tech campus to Montgomery Regional Hospital could be in need of specialty, specialized care that would only be available if Roanoke or perhaps even Charlottesville.

LAWSON: That is true. We definitely, we have not, since we've been here in the last 20 minutes to a half hour, we not seen a helicopter that has been coming in yet. And the wind is definitely blowing pretty hard up here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alex, when Nancy May told you 17 students were brought into Montgomery Regional with gunshots wounds, were those with injuries? Is this in addition, do you know, to the number of deceased because we know that 21, 22 including the gunman have been killed. So do you know if that 17 number that came into Montgomery Regional includes the deceased or not?

LAWSON: I don't know the answer to that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll try to sort that out. Of course you said two to Louis Gale with gunshot wounds and three more on the way to Louis Gale, we do know that three on the way or at least have already arrived at Roanoke Memorial. So we have got -- these hospitals just being stretched to the limit I would imagine with all of these trauma patients coming in.

LAWSON: It does seem, too, that we've been here as I said about a half an hour that possibly some students or people are coming into the hospital to check on their friend, that's been within the last half hour or so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Other than that, Alex, you do you observe additional ambulances coming in or do you believe all the wounded, those injured on the Tech campus have been transported to some hospital?

LAWSON: It seems that way. As I said, since we've been here in the last half hour or so, there have -- we have not seen any kind of ambulances with their lights come on in the last few bits.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we watch the videotape recorded earlier on the Tech campus as this story developed, I guess we will thank Alex Lawson and see if we can go back to News 7's Joe Deshield who is still on the Tech campus with some additional observations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keith, I just wanted to get back with you about the traffic situation, I was able to move to the corner where I can see the road that runs beside Lane Stadium and Castle Coliseum (ph) and traffic is moving in that area, we can see people leaving the parking lot across from Castle Coliseum, that is also in the vicinity of Ambler Johnston, so traffic does appear to be moving on this side of the campus. People are leaving.

There's a steady flow of traffic on that main drive that heads in and out of the campus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It does seem that things are beginning to get back to normal in terms of movement on the campus this afternoon. Joe DeShield (ph), thank you for that update.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that wind is not dying down. We can see Joe is out there standing in the wind.

So medical efforts being hampered because choppers cannot net get in and out because of the wind. That's just tragic because I do know that if numerous serious injuries as clearly there are here they may in fact bring some of the injured to Charlottesville, to UVA. They may bring some to North Carolina, to Roanoke, to kind of spread out the resource available at regional medical centers, frequently obviously help each other in situation like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would suggesting some of these people might need specialized care, they only have so many physicians at a given hospital, and if you've got this many shooting victims, the trauma unit would be overwhelmed.

And so I suppose it would help if they could move some of the them safely to another location. But even as the choppers are grounded for that purpose, the secretary of public safety and supervisor of state police, we understand, are on their way to Blacksburg to see if they can help out, but of course they have to travel by car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Counseling has been set up for students ...

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. You're listening to coverage from our local CNN affiliate, WDBJ. This is Don Lemon in the CNN NEWSROOM at the breaking news desk checking the wires and satellites, all of the information coming in here to the CNN NEWSROOM. As Tony and Heidi have been reporting all morning, at least 22 people killed as gunfire breaks out on a college campus, it's being called a monumental tragedy and scope of it keeps growing.

Breaking news today out of Blacksburg, Virginia, where two shootings have happened at Virginia Tech. Police say the lone gunman is dead. No word on whether he killed himself.

The shootings happened inside of two buildings. Norris Hall and West Ambler Johnston Hall. Let's listen in an I-Report we just got in moments ago here at CNN.

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